More Britons stricken by cancer... but survival rate is better than ever

RECORD numbers are being diagnosed with cancer but survival rates are higher than ever, latest figures reveal.

Cancer detection rates are higher than ever - but so is the survival rate [GETTY]

A staggering 331,487 people got the grim news that they had the disease – a rise of nearly 50,000 over a decade – in 2011 according to the latest figures available. But survival has doubled in the past 40 years thanks to improvements in prevention, diagnosis and treatment.

Cancer Research UK, which announced the statistics, said the main reason for the increase in cases was an ageing population. As more people live longer, more will develop the disease, pushing rates higher.

Dr Julie Sharp, CRUK’s head of health information, said: “More than one in three people will be told they have cancer at some point in their lives. But it’s no longer the death sentence people once feared.

“Thanks to research, cancer can now be prevented, diagnosed and treated more successfully. It’s research that’s led to a vaccine to help prevent cervical cancer and to a new type of screening for bowel cancer to detect the disease at an early stage.

“It’s our recent research that’s shown the potential of a new approach to prevent breast cancer in women at high risk. And it’s research that’s behind the treatment that means most men with testicular cancer can now be cured.”

The charity said around 295 in every 100,000 people were diagnosed with the disease in 1975. In 2011, this had increased to almost 400 per 100,000.

The increase in rates is partly attributable to lifestyle factors such as people drinking too much or being overweight. In the 1970s just 23 per cent of cancer patients survived for 10 years, this climbed to 46 per cent in 2007.

“As the population ages, more people than ever before will be told ‘you have cancer’. Research is the only way we’ll be able to reduce the devastating impact of the disease. One day we will beat cancer. The more research we do, the sooner that day will come.”

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More than three out of five cancers are diagnosed in those aged 65-plus and more than a third in people of 75 and over

Eluned Hughes of Breakthrough Breast Cancer, said: “Breast cancer is not a done deal and, as increasing numbers of people face the possibility of one day being told they have it, this is exactly why it is imperative that we continue our research. These statistics bolster us in our aim to not only stop people dying from this disease but, importantly, to also focus on stopping it developing in the first place. Prevention must be seen as important a weapon as treatment.”

In December, CRUK revealed its latest cancer death figures which showed the rate has dropped by more than a fifth since the 1990s.

Then, 220 in every 100,000 people died of cancer. That plunged by 22 per cent to 170 per 100,000 in 2011. More than three out of five cancers are diagnosed in those aged 65-plus and more than a third in people of 75 and over.

Mike Hobday, director of policy and research at Macmillan Cancer Support, said: “There are currently more than two million people living with or beyond cancer in the UK and this will grow to four million by 2030.

“More people diagnosed with cancer and living longer with their illness will have a big impact on the NHS.

“The cost of treating inpatients with breast and prostate cancer in England alone is predicted to surge by a fifth in a decade, hitting at least £790million a year by 2020.

“We are concerned that the NHS will simply not be able to cope with this surge in demand for services. There needs to be a fundamental shift towards proper after-care.”

A Department of Health spokesman said: “If we are to achieve our goal to become the best in Europe on survival, we know much more must be done to diagnose and treat cancer earlier.

“Around a third of cancers are caused by lifestyle factors which is why we are encouraging people to eat healthily, get active and supporting them to stop smoking.”